Procolophonoidea is an extinct superfamily of

procolophonia Procolophonia is an extinct suborder (clade) of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll ...

parareptile Parareptilia ("near-reptiles") is an extinct group of Basal (phylogenetics), basal Sauropsida, sauropsids ("Reptile, reptiles"), traditionally considered the sister taxon to Eureptilia (the group that likely contains all living reptiles and birds ...

s. Members were characteristically small, stocky, and

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

-like in appearance.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s have been found worldwide from many continents including

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The first members appeared during the

Late Permian Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

in the Karoo Basin of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Taxonomy

Procolophonoidea includes the families

Owenettidae Owenettidae is an extinct family (biology), family of procolophonian parareptiles. Fossils have been found primarily from Africa and Madagascar, with one genus present from South America. It is the sister taxon to the family Procolophonidae. Mode ...

and

Procolophonidae Procolophonidae is an extinct family (biology), family of small, lizard-like parareptiles known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic that were distributed across Pangaea, having been reported from Europe, North America, China, South Africa, Sou ...

. '' Sclerosaurus'', which is placed within its own family Sclerosauridae, may be a member of the superfamily as well. In 1997, De Braga and Rieppel defined this same taxon (the oldest common ancestor of Procolophonidae and Owenettidae and all its descendants) using the name Procolophoniformes.Jalil, N. E., & Janvier, P. (2005). Les pareiasaures (Amniota, Parareptilia) du Permien supérieur du Bassin d’Argana, Maroc. Geodiversitas, 27(1), 35-132. When the superfamily was constructed in 1956, it was thought to be within the

anthracosaur Anthracosauria is a paraphyletic order of extinct reptile-like amphibians (in the broad sense) that flourished during the Carboniferous and early Permian periods, although precisely which species are included depends on one's definition of the ...

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Diadectomorpha Diadectomorpha is a clade of large tetrapods that lived in Euramerica during the Carboniferous and Early Permian periods and in Asia during Late Permian (Wuchiapingian), They have typically been classified as advanced reptiliomorphs (transitiona ...

. Since then it has been placed within the suborder Procolophonia along with the

pareiasaur Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with osteoderms which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Per ...

s, a group of large herbivorous Permian parareptiles.Modesto, S. P. and Damiani, R. (2007). The procolophonoid reptile ''Sauropareion anoplus'' from the lowermost Triassic of South Africa. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27(2):337-349. *

Procolophonia Procolophonia is an extinct suborder (clade) of herbivorous reptiles that lived from the Middle Permian till the end of the Triassic period. They were originally included as a suborder of the Cotylosauria (later renamed Captorhinida Carroll ...

**Procolophonoidea ***Family

****Species '' "Owenetta" kitchingorum'' ****Genus '' Barasaurus'' ****Genus '' Candelaria'' ****Genus '' Owenetta'' ****Genus '' Ruhuhuaria'' ****Genus '' Saurodektes'' ***Family

****? Genus ''

Gomphiosauridion ''Gomphiosauridion'' is an extinct genus of procolophonid that inhabited Virginia during the Late Triassic. It was described by Hans-Dieter Sues and Paul E. Olsen and consists of the species A species () is often defined as the largest g ...

'' ****? Genus '' Kinelia'' ****? Genus '' Spondylolestes'' ****? Genus '' Xenodiphyodon'' ****Genus '' Coletta'' ****Genus ''

Kitchingnathus ''Kitchingnathus'' (Kitchings' mandible) is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Early Triassic (early Olenekian stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype BP/1/1187, skull and par ...

'' ****Genus '' Lasasaurus'' ****Genus ''

Phaanthosaurus ''Phaanthosaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from early Triassic (Induan stage) deposits of Nizhnii Novgorod, Russian Federation. It is known from the holotype PIN 1025/1, a mandible (a dentary). It was collected ...

'' ****Genus ''

Pintosaurus ''Pintosaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from Late Triassic deposits of northeastern Uruguay. It is known from the holotype FC-DPV 1181, a partial skull. It was collected from the Buena Vista Formation of the ...

'' ****Genus ''

Sauropareion ''Sauropareion'' (meaning "lizard cheek") is an extinct genus of basal procolophonid parareptile from earliest Triassic (early Induan stage) deposits of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM PK-11192, skull an ...

'' ****Genus '' Tichvinskia'' ****Subfamily

Leptopleuroninae Leptopleuroninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid reptiles. It is defined as all taxa closer to '' Leptopleuron lacertinum'' than to ''Procolophon trigoniceps''. The oldest member of Leptopleuroninae is '' Phonodus dutoitorum'' from the ...

****Subfamily

Procolophoninae Procolophoninae is an extinct subfamily of procolophonid parareptiles from the late Early Triassic to the early Middle Triassic (Olenekian and Anisian stages) of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe and South America. Currently, the oldest-known pr ...

****Subfamily Theledectinae

References

External links

Introduction to Procolophonoidea
University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP)
Procolophonoidea
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7247458 Procolophonomorpha Prehistoric reptiles of Europe Prehistoric reptiles of Africa Prehistoric reptiles of Asia Prehistoric reptiles of North America Prehistoric reptiles of South America Lopingian first appearances Rhaetian extinctions